Site and neighborhood effects on growth of tree saplings in subtropical plantations (China)

Li, Ying; Härdtle, Werner; Bruelheide, Helge; Nadrowski, Karin; Scholten, Thomas; Wehrden, Henrik von; Oheimb, Goddert von

doi:10.1016/j.foreco.2014.04.039

Cited by 61 publications

(56 citation statements)

References 74 publications

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“…When consulting the relatively scarce literature available on tree experiments, diversity seems not to, or only marginally, influence productivity (Domisch, Finér, Dawud, Vesterdal, & Raulund‐Rasmussen, ; Haase et al., ; Healy, Gotelli, & Potvin, ; Li et al., ; Setiawan et al., ; Tobner et al., ). The limited experimental demonstration of DPRs could be due to the early stage of plantation development, i.e.…”

Section: Discussionmentioning

confidence: 99%

Overyielding in young tree plantations is driven by local complementarity and selection effects related to shade tolerance

et al. 2017

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Overyielding in mixed‐species forests has been demonstrated in a vast body of literature, and the focus of functional biodiversity research is now shifting towards a mechanistic understanding of these observations. We explored diversity–productivity relationships at two sites of a large‐scale tree diversity experiment, with harsh (Ged) and benign (Zed) environmental conditions for plantation establishment. Additive partitioning methodologies were adopted to detect phenomenological patterns in the productivity data, and the trait structure of mixed communities was used to advance insights into compositional effects. After 6 years of plantation development, biomass productivity was significantly higher in mixtures compared to the monocultures of component species. We observed that processes operated through direct tree–tree interactions, as the diversity signal disappeared where trees in mixed stands were surrounded by conspecific neighbours only. This result is particularly relevant for mixed‐species plantation systems, as trees are commonly planted in monospecific patches to simplify management.Partitioning unveiled strong selection effects at both plantation sites. However, at the harsh Ged‐site this was caused by competitive dominance of species with fast young growth, whereas at the benign Zed‐site, species with slow young growth improved their performances but not at the expense of others (i.e. trait‐dependent complementarity). Species tolerance to shading is an influential trait for predicting biodiversity effects, with community‐weighted means in shade tolerance mediating dominance effects (Ged) and functional diversity in shade tolerance mediating (trait‐dependent) complementarity effects (Zed). Synthesis. This study highlights that biodiversity effects in young tree plantations could be explained by the functional composition of mixed communities, with a key role for species levels of shade tolerance. As contrasting results between plantation sites were observed, future research should target the context‐dependency of diversity–productivity relationships.

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Section: Discussionmentioning

confidence: 99%

Overyielding in young tree plantations is driven by local complementarity and selection effects related to shade tolerance

et al. 2017

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“…In the Northern Hemisphere, south‐facing slopes receive more solar irradiation than north‐facing slopes (Warren ), resulting in positive effects on individual tree growth (Fralish ; Li et al. ). As a consequence, each single variable, such as slope aspect, inclination, or altitude, has the potential to significantly affect tree growth (Saremi et al.…”

Section: Introductionmentioning

confidence: 99%

“…To measure tree productivity, we chose mean annual crown width growth between 2011 and 2012, as it best reflected tree growth at the early growth stage of the experiment (Li et al. ). We expected forest growth at this early stage to be mainly dominated by abiotic conditions, based on the finding of Li et al.…”

Section: Introductionmentioning

confidence: 99%

“…We expected forest growth at this early stage to be mainly dominated by abiotic conditions, based on the finding of Li et al. () that growth of individual trees is related to aspect and soil nitrogen content but not to Shannon diversity of the local tree neighborhood. Crown width growth rate data referred to Li et al.…”

Section: Introductionmentioning

confidence: 99%

“…Crown width growth rate data referred to Li et al. (), and data were aggregated at the plot level, with plot mean values being subjected to the analysis framework of Díaz et al. ().…”

Section: Introductionmentioning

confidence: 99%

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Early subtropical forest growth is driven by community mean trait values and functional diversity rather than the abiotic environment

Kröber

Liu

Härdtle

et al. 2015

Ecology and Evolution

Self Cite

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While functional diversity (FD) has been shown to be positively related to a number of ecosystem functions including biomass production, it may have a much less pronounced effect than that of environmental factors or species-specific properties. Leaf and wood traits can be considered particularly relevant to tree growth, as they reflect a trade-off between resources invested into growth and persistence. Our study focussed on the degree to which early forest growth was driven by FD, the environment (11 variables characterizing abiotic habitat conditions), and community-weighted mean (CWM) values of species traits in the context of a large-scale tree diversity experiment (BEF-China). Growth rates of trees with respect to crown diameter were aggregated across 231 plots (hosting between one and 23 tree species) and related to environmental variables, FD, and CWM, the latter two of which were based on 41 plant functional traits. The effects of each of the three predictor groups were analyzed separately by mixed model optimization and jointly by variance partitioning. Numerous single traits predicted plot-level tree growth, both in the models based on CWMs and FD, but none of the environmental variables was able to predict tree growth. In the best models, environment and FD explained only 4 and 31% of variation in crown growth rates, respectively, while CWM trait values explained 42%. In total, the best models accounted for 51% of crown growth. The marginal role of the selected environmental variables was unexpected, given the high topographic heterogeneity and large size of the experiment, as was the significant impact of FD, demonstrating that positive diversity effects already occur during the early stages in tree plantations.

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Restoring Ecosystem Services of Degraded Forests in a Changing Climate

Chaudhry

Sidhu

Paliwal

2021

Handbook of Ecological and Ecosystem Engineering

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Site and neighborhood effects on growth of tree saplings in subtropical plantations (China)

Cited by 61 publications

References 74 publications

Overyielding in young tree plantations is driven by local complementarity and selection effects related to shade tolerance

Overyielding in young tree plantations is driven by local complementarity and selection effects related to shade tolerance

Early subtropical forest growth is driven by community mean trait values and functional diversity rather than the abiotic environment

Restoring Ecosystem Services of Degraded Forests in a Changing Climate

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